Views of Gender in Early Childhood

项目摘要 幼儿对性别的本质主义观点（即，性别是与生俱来的，不可改变的，信息丰富的， 在迄今为止所研究的所有文化中，都发现儿童早期的大脑活动是不灵活的，这使得研究人员 将性别本质主义视为早期出现的认知默认。拟议的工作涉及 性别本质论是不可避免的这一信念的有效性，通过考察性别的发展， 性别歧视和性别"典型"儿童的本质主义。性别平等儿童 （那些生理性别和内在性别意识不同的人）为以下方面提供了一个独特的机会： 回答这个问题，因为他们自己的性别认同无视本质主义观点的核心组成部分， 性别（例如，相信性别是由一个人的性别决定的，性别是离散的，等等）。因此，性别 儿童自身的性别经历可能会导致早期的非本质主义信念， 性别，这表明需要修改关于本质主义的更广泛的理论。本工作 进一步扩大我们对本质主义的理解，问本质主义是一个一般领域，还是 特定领域认知偏差如果本质主义是一种领域一般能力，我们期望发现， 本质主义与其他社会类别的本质主义有关（例如，种族）和自然种类（例如，动物）。 此外，如果GNC儿童在性别本质主义水平上不同于性别典型儿童，他们也会 在其他本质主义的层次上有所不同。相反，如果性别本质主义是特定领域的， 性别本质主义不会对其他类型的本质主义产生影响。我们的第三个重点领域涉及 性别本质主义的社会化，研究性别平等和性别平等的程度， 典型的儿童性别本质主义反映了他们从父母和社区获得的信息 关于性别。最后，我们的目的是探讨性别本质主义和偏见之间的关系， 性别正常儿童中的性别不正常儿童。文献提供了相互矛盾的证据 关于社会范畴本质主义与偏见的关系。因为性别 自闭症儿童往往受到同龄人的高度歧视和偏见， 了解这种联系对减少性别歧视的同伴受害具有重要意义 孩子我们不仅会研究这种联系，还会测试我们是否可以改变孩子的性别。 如果是的话，这是否会减少对性别歧视儿童的偏见。 总之，这项工作不仅将扩大我们对本质主义的理论理解， 对幼儿期性别不一致的理解。

Project Summary Young children’s essentialist views of gender (i.e., that gender is innate, immutable, informative, and discrete) are found to be inflexible in early childhood in all cultures studied to date, which has led researchers to construe of gender essentialism as an early-emerging cognitive default. The proposed work addresses the validity of this belief that gender essentialism is inevitable, by examining the development of gender essentialism among gender nonconforming and gender “typical” children. Gender nonconforming children (those whose biological gender and internal sense of gender diverge) present a unique opportunity for answering this question, as their own gender identity defies central components of an essentialist outlook on gender (e.g., believing that gender is determined by one’s sex, that gender is discrete, etc). Thus, gender nonconforming children’s own experiences with gender might lead to early non-essentialist beliefs about gender, suggesting that broader theories about essentialism would need to be modified. In this work, we further expand our understanding of essentialism by asking whether essentialism is a domain-general or domain-specific cognitive bias. If essentialism is a domain-general capacity, we expect to find that gender essentialism is related to essentialism of other social categories (e.g., race) and natural kinds (e.g., animals). Further, if GNC children differ from gender typical children in their levels of gender essentialism, they will also differ in their levels of other essentialism. In contrast, if gender essentialism is domain-specific, any differences in gender essentialism will have no implication for other types of essentialism. Our third area of focus involves the socialization of gender essentialism, examining the extent to which gender nonconforming and gender typical children’s gender essentialism mirrors the messages they receive from their parents and communities about gender. Finally, we aim to examine the relation between gender essentialism and prejudice against gender nonconforming children among gender typical children. The literature provides conflicting evidence regarding the relation between essentialism of social categories and prejudice. Because gender nonconforming children tend to experience high levels of discrimination and prejudice by their peers, understanding this link has crucial implications for reducing peer victimization of gender nonconforming children. We will not only examine the link but will also test whether we can change children’s gender essentialism and if so, whether this will result in a reduction of bias against gender nonconforming children. Together this work will not only expand our theoretical understanding of essentialism, but will broaden our understanding of gender nonconformity in early childhood.